USG swears in new cabinet members

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The executive cabinet of the student government was sworn in today during the United Student Government (USG) meeting.

President Bobby Bertha swore in Zac Seymour as the parliamentarian, Shanience Lawrence as recording secretary, Sabrina Bodon as press secretary and Josh Croup treasurer of the organization. Seymour, Bodon and Croup also serve on the Globe staff as public relations coordinator, online editor and co-sports editor, respectively.

Over the summer, USG worked extensively with Student Activity Involvement and Leadership (SAIL) to pinpoint what the different organizations request from USG.

“We came to the conclusion that a lot of groups were requesting materials for bake sales,” Sabrina Bodon, press secretary of USG said. “We wanted to do that to create an autonomy for the student body with their holding accounts.”

In addition, Bodon said USG meetings, which are currently in the Student Center will be moved to Lawrence Hall 200 to increase visibility.

“The glass walls really create a sense of ‘We are within the student body and we are working with them,’” Bodon said.

There is no set date for the location change at the time of publication, but Bodon said it will happen when it’s most efficient for the university to make the change.

Visibility into the organization is something that the executive cabinet is focusing on heavily during this year.

“This year, we strive for an inclusive and active organization that is representative of everyone who attends Point Park University,” President Bobby Bertha said.

To accomplish that goal, USG plans to fill all of the available positions within the organization.

“We’re really looking to current students, graduate students and freshman students to be as full and representative of the student body as we possibly can,” Bodon said.

As the organization stands, there are a total of 36 positions representing six positions from each school at the university and the graduate program.

According to Bodon, the graduate students would serve at-large within the organization. The at-large members represent the student body as a whole as opposed to the other senators who represent their respective school.

At-large members aren’t required to attend student body meetings due to different time conflict. USG currently has one at-large member, but plans to appoint new members at the upcoming meetings.

USG will hold freshman applications open starting Sept. 6 to increase membership opportunities within the student body. The elections will be held Sept. 11 to Sept. 13.

Point Park University President Paul Hennigan visited the student government to discuss the future of the institution and addressed the faculty’s recent vote of “no confidence.” Hennigan’s address happened before the meeting was called to order by the Vice President, Davion Heron.

“The faculty in a special assembly last week and voted, a majority of the faculty, who were there, passed a resolution of no confidence in the president of the university,” Hennigan said.

Hennigan said the Board of Trustees will follow the procedure outlined by the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges (AGB) moving forward.

Senator Matthew Bauman posed a question to the president of the university regarding tuition increases. Hennigan said the main drivers of tuition increases are costs of maintaining the operation of the university, salaries.

Bauman asked if the public could have access to the budget.

“Not public records because we’re a private school so we don’t share the budget of the university publicly,” Hennigan said.

Croup confirmed there will be four funding periods throughout the duration of the school year. The first funding period of the year for clubs and organization deadlines is on deadline for Sept. 12 and they will be allocated Sept. 18.

There will not be a meeting for USG next week Sept. 4 due to Labor Day.